Chapter 241

Noah

The night before…

Noah’s hands trembled as he stared at the photo strip, his eyes wide with disbelief. The images before him told a story he couldn’t remember living, and yet every fiber of his being recognized them as true. There he was, years younger, his arm draped casually around Hannah’s shoulders, both of them grinning widely at the camera.

“Adam,” Noah’s voice was hoarse as he turned to the boy. “You said these belong to your mommy?”

Adam looked up at him with innocent eyes. “Mhm. She looks at them a lot when she thinks I’m not watching.” He tilted his head, curious. “Why do you look so funny in the pictures? You look so different.”

Noah swallowed hard, his throat suddenly dry. “I... I don’t know, buddy.” He crouched and rifled through the box, finding more photos, letters, and small mementos. Each item seemed to chip away at a wall in his mind, revealing glimpses of memories he didn’t even know he had.

As he unfolded one of the letters, Noah’s breath caught in his throat. Hannah’s familiar handwriting filled the page:

“My dearest Noah,” it began, “I miss you more with each passing day. The summer we spent together feels like a beautiful dream, and I can’t wait until we can be together again…”

Noah’s eyes burned as he read on, the letter detailing shared experiences and inside jokes he couldn’t recall, and yet they felt so… achingly familiar.

“Look at this one,” Adam said, holding up a little seashell that caught the light, faded pinks and blues like a sunrise. A thin leather strap had been threaded through a hole at the top of it, like a necklace. “Isn’t it pretty?”

The moment Noah saw that seashell, a flood of memories washed over Noah. She… She had picked that one out for him, one day, while they were walking on the beach. He took the shell in his hands, and even now, he could still feel her fingers pressing it into his palm…

“Here… Doesn’t it look beautiful? Like the sunrise…”

Suddenly, holding that shell, Noah could see it all so clearly—a blissful summer spent with Hannah, stolen moments and secret smiles. He remembered the thrill of receiving her letters, the late-night phone calls where they whispered their dreams and fears to each other.

A particular memory stood out—visiting his mother in the hospital one last time. Hannah had convinced him to sneak in against his father’s wishes. She had kept watch while he had said goodbye…

“Oh, Goddess,” Noah whispered, his hand shaking as he picked up another photo. It was of him and Hannah at some formal event, both looking slightly older than in the previous pictures.

He didn’t need to clear away the fog to remember that night. He remembered it all too clearly.

It was the night their parents had announced their arranged marriage. Noah remembered the confusion he had felt when Hannah had approached him, her eyes shining with familiarity and love. He had thought it strange then, wondering how this girl he had never met could look at him with such warmth. She had kissed him, and he had been so damn awkward, so confused.

But he had met her before. He had loved her before.

And by the time they had met again at that event, he had forgotten her.

Noah furrowed his brow, trying to put the puzzle pieces together. No one knew about their secret friendship that had blossomed into a romance. No one except…

Zoe. Noah’s childhood friend who he had confided in one day.

“I think she’s my mate, Zoe. I love her… I want to marry her…”

Noah’s mind raced. All these years, he’d believed that his mate bond with Zoe had been cut. He remembered the searing pain of the silver knife, the agony of feeling that connection severed.

But it wasn’t Zoe. It had never been Zoe.

It was Hannah. Hannah was his mate. His eternal moonlight.

And someone—Zoe—had taken that from him. Had taken his memories, his love, his true mate, and replaced them with false memories and a fabricated bond.

“Hold him down,” Zoe had said, her face monstrous in the flickering firelight. She brandished a silver knife in her hand, and it reflected Noah’s terrified face back at him. “Don’t worry, Noah… It’ll hurt, but once I’m done, you won’t love her anymore. She won’t be your mate…”

“No! No, I want Hannah! Get off of me!”

Too many hands had held him down. Too many… “Scott, let me go! You’re my brother! How could you let this happen?!”

“I’m sorry, Noah. But it’s for the best…”

“Nooo!”

“Shh…” Zoe had crouched, silver knife glinting in the light. She had cut the seashell necklace off first, smirking as she held it up to the light. “You will soon forget this all happened, Noah,” she’d said. “You won’t even remember Hannah at all…”

Noah’s hands clenched into fists, anger bubbling up inside of him. By the time he had seen Hannah again at that event, the night that their parents announced their arranged marriage, Zoe’s little ceremony had already been completed. She hadn’t expected their parents to put Noah and Hannah together anyway, though, and she had been arranged to marry Drake.

That was why she’d returned to Nightcrest. To take back what had never been hers.

“Adam,” Noah’s voice was urgent now. “Does your mommy know you play with these?”

Adam shook his head, his eyes widening. “No... am I in trouble?”

Noah knelt down, placing his hands on Adam’s shoulders. “No, buddy. You’re not in trouble at all. In fact…” He paused, a genuine smile spreading across his face. “Thank you for showing me these. You’ve helped me remember something very important.”

…

“I remember.”

Hannah let herself relax into the kiss for just a moment before shoving him away, her eyes blazing with confusion and anger.

“What was that for?! What are you talking about?!” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Noah held onto her, refusing to let her pull away completely. “Hannah, I remember everything. Everything about… us.”

Her eyes widened. “What are you talking about, Noah?” Her voice was dropping to a whisper.

“Hey!” The guard began to rattle his keys on the other side of the door. “Hey, no touching!” They didn’t have much time.

“I never had a mate bond with Zoe,” Noah explained, the words tumbling out in a rush. “She’s not my fated mate. It was you, Hannah. You’re my mate.”

“Noah, what—”

“My mate bond with Zoe was never cut. My bond with you was cut, and then my memories of you were replaced with false ones.”

Hannah shook her head, trying to shove away, but Noah held on tight. The guard grunted, cursing about having the wrong key, the door rattling in its frame.

“Noah, this is insane. You can’t expect me to believe—”

“It’s true, Hannah. Zoe, she… She’s behind all of this. She’s the one who cut my bond with you and wiped my memories. Here. Like a sunrise… Remember?” Noah pressed the seashell into Hannah’s hand, and her eyes widened, mouth hanging open.

But then she looked up at him and her eyes narrowed. “But a few months ago…”

“When I suddenly kicked you out, that was all Zoe, too. I went to her to tell her to leave us alone, but she messed with my mind and changed my memories, making me believe that I hated you and that you were a cheater. I never truly wanted to divorce you.”

Hannah stared at him, seashell still sitting in her palm. The guard found the right key and turned it in the lock, bellowing at them to get off of each other.

“All these years,” Noah pleaded, “I thought Zoe was my eternal moonlight because she placed memories of herself into the empty spaces where my real memories of you had been. She had kept the pictures and letters as trophies, but I found them, and it jogged my memory.”

“Noah…”

“You are my mate, Hannah. Not Zoe. You are my eternal moonlight, and I am a fool for not remembering you. But I remember now, and I love you. I always have. I will make things right.”

Before Hannah could respond, the guard grabbed her arm and yanked her away from Noah. “Time’s up!”

“Hannah, I will get you out of here!” Noah called out as Hannah was dragged away. “I love you!”